Oxford City Council is sitting on over £224,000 worth of overpaid council tax, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information request sent to Oxford City Council on July 22 found the credit balance on July 1 2021 was £224,188.83.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Oxford City Council conducts a review of credit accounts each month and a refund is issued were we have sufficient information to do so; people who have paid using direct debit are refunded directly into their bank account.

“On occasion people vacate property without advising the team of a forwarding address, in this situation we contact customers by email when available and by phone if we have a valid number.

“If we can verify their identity and obtain a forwarding address a refund will be issued.  

“It can be the case that we do not have sufficient information and we are unable to locate a customer who has overpaid an account. When this occurs the credit will remain on the account until it can be claimed.”

Council tax in Oxford is some of the highest in country, according to research by Quittance Legal Services for the 2021/22 tax year.

Quittance found residents in Oxford are paying the 10th highest council tax in England, at £2,130.64 for a band D property.

All homes are given a council tax valuation by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

Council tax valuations are based on the price the property would have sold for on the open market on 1 April 1991. 

The 'band' your property is in depends on that valuation.